Author: Elizabeth Richards

Email: ericha13@aims.edu

Submission:

Blood spilled on hard ground,
A war cry echoes all around.
“Blood for the Blood God,”
Come the screams.
“Blood for the Blood God,”
A sacrifice, it seems

A man stands among the carnage,
Scars decorating his skin like plumage.
A sword hangs by his side,
Bloodied fingers tightened around its hilt.
A sword hangs by his side,
And the final voice halts with a lilt.

It’s never enough to satiate them,
Always needing more blood spilled for the condemned.
Finally it’s quiet,
His breath the only noise in the room.
Finally it’s quiet,
But without the voices, it’s more an empty tomb.

Another man enters the room,
Pausing when he sees the lives consumed.
He stands still for a moment,
Taking in the sight.
He stands still for a moment,
Bright wings reflecting sunlight.

Two immortals stare at each other,
One shaking and the other faced with something uninteded to discover.
Still the voices are quiet,
And he’d give anything to hear them now.
Still the voices are quiet,
And the other’d like to help but doesn’t know how.

The silence is deafening,
As one tries to understand what’s happening.
He takes a step closer,
And the god’s breath hitches.
He takes a step closer,
And when the sword drops, his body pitches.

The winged god runs forward,
Avoiding the bodies of those slaughtered.
He caught the Blood God,
Setting him on the ground.
He caught the Blood God,
Around the god’s shoulders his wings wound.

Time –Years– pass,
And their relationship is no longer glass.
The Blood God and Death’s Angel,
Once strangers and now friends.
The Blood God and Death’s Angel,
Together from now until time ends.